Driver in car chase shot by Santa Ana police, hospitalized

May 14, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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A bullet casing, lying on 18th Street, is marked as evidence after a police-involved shooting in Santa Ana. A man was shot by police Tuesday after a pursuit that ended with a stolen car crashing into a tree, authorities said.The man's condition was unknown Tuesday afternoon, and a woman in the car was also injured. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY RE

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A detective and an Orange County Sheriff's Department crime lab investigator check over a car that was involved in a police chase Tuesday morning. The gold sedan, left, was stolen Tuesday morning in Anaheim and then located by LoJack in Santa Ana. The driver sped away from Santa Ana police and a chase ended with the car crashing into a tree and a Santa Ana police officer shooting a man in the car. A woman in the car was injured in the crash. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Investigating police officers and detectives gather at the intersection of Alona Street and 18th Street after a chase of a stolen car ended with a police officer-involved shooting. When the car crashed into a tree off 18th Street, a Santa Ana officer shot a man in the car for reasons that are still under investigation. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Investigating police officers and detectives gather at the intersection of Alona Street and 18th Street after a chase of a stolen car ended with a crash and a police officer-involved shooting. The car was stolen earlier Tuesday in Anaheim but was located in Santa Ana with a LoJack hit. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A Santa Ana Police Department forensics specialist stands next to a car that was involved in a police chase Tuesday morning. The gold sedan, left, was stolen Tuesday morning in Anaheim and then located by LoJack in Santa Ana. The driver sped away from Santa Ana police and a chase ended with the car crashing into a tree and a Santa Ana police officer shooting a man in the car. A woman in the car was injured in the crash. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A bullet casing, lying on 18th Street, is marked as evidence after a police-involved shooting in Santa Ana. A man was shot by police Tuesday after a pursuit that ended with a stolen car crashing into a tree, authorities said. The man's condition was unknown Tuesday afternoon, and a woman in the car also was injured. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Santa Ana's 18th Street was closed between English and Alona streets as police investigated an officer-involved shooting that happened at the end of a chase of a car that had been reported stolen. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A bullet casing, lying on 18th Street, is marked as evidence after a police-involved shooting in Santa Ana. A man was shot by police Tuesday after a pursuit that ended with a stolen car crashing into a tree, authorities said.The man's condition was unknown Tuesday afternoon, and a woman in the car was also injured. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A bullet casing, lying on 18th Street, is marked as evidence after a police-involved shooting in Santa Ana. A man was shot by police Tuesday after a pursuit that ended with a stolen car crashing into a tree, authorities said.The man's condition was unknown Tuesday afternoon, and a woman in the car was also injured. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY RE

SANTA ANA – A man was shot by police Tuesday after a pursuit that ended with a stolen car crashing into a tree, authorities said.

Santa Ana police had begun chasing a man and a woman who were in a car after authorities were notified that the vehicle had been stolen in Anaheim, officials said.

Officials said the man and woman were taken to the hospital and are expected to survive.

The man was struck once in the upper torso, while the woman suffered a chin wound that authorities believed occurred during the crash, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

Authorities identified the pair as Petrica Muntean, 19, and Karen Ensaldo, 20, of Anaheim. They are expected to be arrested on suspicion of robbery, possession of stolen property and felony evading, Bertagna said.

Anaheim police responded to a robbery call at 6:50 a.m. at the Akua Motor Inn, 1018 E. Orangethorpe Ave., said Sgt. Bob Dunn. There, a woman told officers that another woman stole her car keys at gunpoint. When she returned to the spot where she had parked her gold-colored Toyota, the car was gone.

The car was entered into the stolen-vehicle system, where a LoJack hit was received by the Orange County Sheriff's Department at 11:12 a.m., Bertagna said.

Shortly after, Santa Ana officers spotted the stolen car in the 2200 block of North Pacific Avenue and the driver sped away, Bertagna said. Officers followed, and officials said the pursuit ended when the driver lost control and the car crashed into a tree off of 18th Street west of Alona Street, bounced off the tree and hit a white Volkswagen and green sedan parked next to the nearby curb.

Santa Ana police shot the man around 11:40 a.m. for reasons that are still under investigation, Bertagna said. It wasn't immediately clear how many officers fired, or if a weapon was found in or near the car.

Mireya Moreno, 18, was in her home on 18th Street when the crash happened.

"I heard a loud screeching sound and then a big bang," she said. "I saw the woman passenger crouching down in the car. I think because she was scared. Then I heard the gunshots. Like six or seven of them."

Moreno said she saw the woman get out of the car and lay down on the ground before police detained her. The driver also got out of the car and was handcuffed by officers on the sidewalk, she said.

"I have a 3-month-old son, I was super scared," she said. Moreno said the police did not explain to her what happened, but questioned her after the incident.

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